How to use indigent in a sentence

11 example sentences · adjective, noun

Indigent means poor; destitute; in need. Example: “I had since my introduction to the prince been sensitive to the fact that he must think an obviously indigent soldier of fortune will sooner or later open the subject of a subscription to the Greek Cause.”

Examples of indigent by meaning

adjectivePoor; destitute; in need.

I had since my introduction to the prince been sensitive to the fact that he must think an obviously indigent soldier of fortune will sooner or later open the subject of a subscription to the Greek Cause.1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!
Because of this, when my second major health fiasco happened, I had no insurance, so I went to a teaching hospital where they took indigent patients.2011, Carla Ulbrich, How Can You Not Laugh at a Time Like This?: Reclaim Your Health With Humor, Creativity, and Grit, Tell Me Press...
Wainwright, the states have been required to provide counsel for indigent defendants at virtually all other stages of the criminal process, beginning with arrest and concluding with the defendant's release from the system.2013, Larry J. Siegel, John L. Worral, Essentials of Criminal Justice, Wadsworth, →ISBN, page 162

nounA person in need, or in poverty.

I liked the streets best, so I walked and stared, and slept in a Salvation Army hostel for indigents.1975, Robertson Davies, World of Wonders, Penguin Books, published 1976, →ISBN, page 161
The influx of indigents overwhelmed the city's meagre social services and affordable accommodation.2009, Mara Vorhees, Moscow, Lonely Planet, →ISBN, page 29
The result was that many more indigents had to forgo care.2011, Michael Parenti, Democracy for the Few, Wadsworth, →ISBN, page 78

More sentences with indigent

Taken as a whole, the article portrayed Ray as an indigent, racist “Hoosier” (St.2015, Pate McMichael, Klandestine: How a Klan Lawyer and a Checkbook Journalist ..., page 2. From the entry hoosier
Pierce remembered Hilda's prophecy that her indigent husband would turn up, like a bad penny.1918, Rex Ellingwood Beach, chapter 17, in The Winds of Chance. From the entry bad penny
The indigent health-care bill died in the waning moments of the session, killed by Republican Representative Bill Ceverha of Dallas, a notorious meanie.2010, Molly Ivins, Nothin' But Good Times Ahead, page 50. From the entry meanie
Our data suggested that, contrary to the law’s rather binary notion of indigency, a large chunk of felony criminal defendants are what we have called “marginally indigent.”2007 January 8, Morris B. Hoffman, “Free-Market Justice”, in New York Times. From the entry indigency
The women told the judge that they would not pay because they were indigent and also because it was a matter of conscience that they not pay.1984 February 4, Christine Guilfoy, “Three Seneca Women Get 89 Days in Jail”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 28, page 1. From the entry resentencing

Meaning of indigent

adjective Poor; destitute; in need.
adjective Utterly lacking or in need of something specified.
noun A person in need, or in poverty.

Full definition of indigent

Questions about indigent in a sentence

How do you use indigent in a sentence?: Indigent is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “I had since my introduction to the prince been sensitive to the fact that he must think an obviously indigent soldier of fortune will sooner or later open the subject of a subscription to the Greek Cause.”
What is a short sentence with indigent?: “The result was that many more indigents had to forgo care.”
What does indigent mean?: Indigent means poor; destitute; in need.

Adapted from Wiktionary: indigent (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use indigent in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/indigent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.